MSU Hosting Blue-Chip Prospect from Ohio on Spring Visit

The Spartans are getting another blue-chip recruit onto campus during the spring.

Columbus Academy's Reinaldo Perez (74) looks at the sideline in the first half of the game at Columbus Academy on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 in Gahanna, Ohio. | Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

More and more visits between Michigan State football and blue-chip recruits are being set up.

According to multiple reports, one of the latest guys added to the list is four-star Columbus Academy (Ohio) defensive lineman Reinaldo Perez. He will reportedly be taking in the Spartans' spring practice on Saturday, April 4.

Columbus Academy's Reinaldo Perez (74) looks at the sideline in the first half of the game at Columbus Academy on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 in Gahanna, Ohio. | Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Perez is ranked 288th overall in the class of 2027, according to the 247Sports Composite. This places him 34th among all defensive linemen and 11th for all players from Ohio. In addition to the interest from MSU, he has offers from Ohio State, Florida, USC, Indiana, and several other Power Four schools.

Defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere III has perhaps been Michigan State's busiest coach and the most successful one at getting high-end prospects onto campus. Plenty of prospects, including four-stars Bryce Kish, Nehemiah Ombati, and Myles Smith, have already scheduled official visits. This isn't an OV for Perez, but getting him to East Lansing to check out a practice is a step in the right direction.

More on Perez, Outlook for MSU

Reinaldo Perez, Columbus Academy defensive lineman, soaks up the atmosphere of the game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns at Ohio Stadium on Aug. 30, 2025. | Lori Schmidt / Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As of now, it definitely seems like the Buckeyes would be the team to beat in Perez's recruitment. Columbus Academy is a mere half-hour drive away from Ohio Stadium, and OSU has a pretty good history at getting defensive linemen into the NFL. It would be a pretty safe bet for Perez to presume going to Ohio State would come with a lot of victories and some College Football Playoff berths, too.

The Buckeyes already have three predictions from Rivals' insiders to land Perez, though the first one came in June 2025, and the other two came in the same day OSU opened its '25 season with a win over Texas. That is a pretty sizable gap between then and now.

It's pretty easy to see what programs like Ohio State want Perez. Standing at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, he looks like a guy that can make a Power Four defensive coordinator pretty happy some day. Some high school recruits of Perez's physical stature move around a little bit clumsily, as if they aren't used to how big then are (which is sometimes true, to some degree).

Perez looks like a natural athlete when you flip on the film. Columbus Academy plays down at Division V of the OHSAA, so he didn't face the world's toughest competition, but he truly looked like a man amongst boys out there and definitely has four-star status for a reason.

Sep 14, 2023; Gahanna, Ohio, USA; Columbus Academy defensive lineman Reinaldo Perez (74) celebrates the 23-16 win over St. Charles during the high school football game at Columbus Academy. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

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